Risen Life

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Risen LifeEaster Tuesday

Yesterday, Archbishop Cupich presided at a Eucharistic liturgy with the Sisters of the Resurrection to celebrate our 125th anniversary of the founding of our community. At his homily, he pointed out that the Easter scriptures don’t tell about the risen Lord but describe those who went to the tomb and found it empty. He reminded us that this is a call to remind ourselves that we come to realize the reality of the resurrection according to our experiences. That we first need to experience and to acknowledge the empty tomb- that death has been overcome; that if we believe, we can take on a new life; that all our sins and their effects on our lives have been overcome by Christ and we can look forward to a risen life with Jesus who arose from this tomb. And we need to leave the tomb and seek Jesus.

This is the reflection of Pope Francis Jesus is not in the sepulcher, he is Risen!...”Yesterday” is the tomb of Jesus and the tomb of the Church, the tomb of truth and justice; “today” is the perennial Resurrection to which the Holy Spirit impels us, bestowing on us full freedom…You, why do you seek the living among the dead, you who withdraw into yourself after a failure, and you who no longer have the strength to pray; Why do you seek the living among the dead, you who feel alone, abandoned by friends and perhaps also by God?Why do you seek the living among the dead, you who have lost hope and you who feel imprisoned by your sins? Why do you seek the living among the dead, you who aspire to beauty, to spiritual perfection, to justice, and to peace?This admonition….helps us leave behind our empty sadness and opens us to the horizons of joy and hope. That hope which rolls back the stones from tombs, and encourages one to proclaim the Good News, capable of generating new life for others...Behold, brothers and sisters, he is alive, he is with us!...Let us not seek the living among the deadGeneral Audience April 23, 2014

Today is the feast day of St. Gladys. She was a queen who converted her husband, King Gundleus, to Christianity. They both became saints as well as their six children. This is what can happen to those who leave their failure, weakness, loneliness and sin and who seek and embrace the risen Christ who waits for us with welcoming arms.